The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group works to help people whose rights have been violated and investigates cases involving such abuse, as well as assessing the overall human rights situation in Ukraine. The Group also seeks to develop awareness of human rights issues through public events and its various publications

Valentina Telychenko, the lawyer representing Myroslava Gongadze has told journalists that the trial of Oleksy Pukach over charges connected with journalist Georgy Gongadze’s murder has again been deferred, this time to 11 August.

Ms Telychenko suggested that the journalists compare the timeframes for hearing the Pukach case and those for the trials of the former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Minister of Internal Affairs, Yury Lutsenko.

“The Pukach case was passed to the court much earlier than the cases of Tymoshenko and Lutsenko. Yet in the Pukach case there has been far less progress. At the present time the court has not moved beyond establishing who the accused is.”

“By 11 August the court will not have progressed further than establishing the accused. At the same time in the case over the charges against Tymoshenko which was received by the Pechersky District Court two months later, they have already questioned, from what I have been told, around 10 witnesses”, Ms Telychenko state.

“And with regard to Lutsenko where there are several charges, the court has already moved much further”.

“You can thus see an obvious difference in approach to different criminal cases in the Pechersky District Court. This clearly demonstrates selective justice. I think that the Pechersky District Court has decided to stand out for its efficiency in the compromising of Ukraine’s justice system”.

Pukach’s lawyer, Hryhory Demydenko stated that the hearing had been deferred since one of the victims in the case, journalist Podolsky, does not have access to State secrets. “And when that access will appear is up to the SBU [Security Service].”